1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to closures for dispensing liquid or semi-liquid products from bottles, and particularly to a two-piece dispensing closure that includes a plastic fitment for insertion into a bottle mouth and a plastic cap that is rotatable to open and close a dispensing opening in its top wall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known to provide caps and closures for containers of liquid and semi-liquid products such as water, soap, syrup, catsup, household cleansers, waxes and the like. Such dispensing caps are typically opened by twisting them, lifting a flip-top lid, or by pulling them upwardly to open an aperture in the top of the cap. The caps may include means for making them child resistant and/or pilfer resistant.
One such cap is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,932 to Andreas Iseli. That patent discloses a container having a neck with an integral neck top on it, an upwardly projecting post on top of the neck, and a plurality of apertures around the post for discharge of the contents of the container. Iseli's cap has a top wall with a central aperture in it for sealing engagement with the post on the container, an inner skirt with a flexible lip seal for sealing against the cylindrical container neck, and a plurality of lugs for engaging in a helical groove in the container neck to hold the cap in rotational engagement with the container neck. The central aperture in the cap has a lower annular lip on it for seating in an undercut groove in the projecting post on the container neck.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,354 to Alexander Schreiber discloses a dispensing outer cap for fitting over an inner cap that is engaged inside the mouth of a container. The inner cap has a plug on it for sealing engagement in a dispensing aperture in the top wall of the outer cap. The inner cap has a flow channel around the plug and has a cylindrical support wall and sealer intrusion chamber for receiving an internal sealer sleeve on the outer cap.
Dispensing caps are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,058,631, 5,044,403 and 5,275,338, among others.
An improved dispensing cap is needed that provides improved sealing of the dispensing opening when the cap is closed and thereby reduces the risk of leakage of the contents of the container should the container be tipped on its side or upside down during shipment or use. Leakage of product can result in considerable loss, especially if the container is in a carton of multiple containers. Leakage from one container can result in some or all the containers in the carton having leaked contents on them and not marketable.
An improved dispensing cap is also needed that is economical to manufacture and that also has improved leak resistance. Small savings in the cost of packing can save many thousands of dollars when the products are sold in large volumes as are many food and household products.